When They Knew
By Massimo Calabresi / Time
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As the investigation tightens into the leak of the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, sources tell TIME some White House officials may have learned she was married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson weeks before his July 6, 2003, Op-Ed piece criticizing the Administration.

Tom Maguire: TIME on Plame — TIME magazine tries to fix the date at which the news in the INR memo was circulated, and crushes...
Barbara O'Brien: Karl's Klues — Maybe even less than a clue, but interesting ... Massimo Calabresi writes in Time magazine that it...
Faiz @ThinkProgress: Leaking Scandal Encircles More Administration Officials Than Previously Believed — Today, Time magazine reports that...

Newsie8200 @DailyKos: Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us If this doesn't get the media swarming again, then, the media will further prove themselves to be a bunch of worthless sycophants.
Laura Rozen: Time's Massimo Calabresi on administration officials learning of Wilson's wife's employment weeks before Wilson's July 6...
John Podhoretz: THE STATE DEPARTMENT PLOT THICKENS — Time Magazine has a new story about the revelation of Valerie Plame's name — a...

Ed Driscoll: Glenn Reynolds links to Matt Drudge's latest update on Helen Thomas's meltdown after being caught saying that "I'll kill...
Mike Rappaport: Often the only way to convince them otherwise is to grant their privileges to others. Then they suddenly get it.
Jonah Goldberg: COWBOY UP, HELEN — Helen Thomas doesn't like being quoted.

MarkInMexico: Main Page Reporter: I'll never talk to a reporter again! Drudge has a followup to the Helen Thomas story.
Glenn Reynolds: ANOTHER JOURNALIST UNHAPPY AT BEING QUOTED: This kind of turnabout will only get more common, of course.

Justin Gardner: From the Sun Times: "Police said the boys apparently did not know the significance of the flags they took from the yard...
Captain Ed: Well, I was wrong. It turned out to be pointless after all: [snipped quote] To be honest, I'm not sure what's worse —...

MarkInMexico: Chicago Sun-Times: "Teens arrested for burning 20 small U.S. flags" Then the first paragraph of this thoroughly...
Glenn Reynolds: FUNERAL FLAG-BURNING UPDATE: [snipped quote] So I guess they just thought they were burning flags, and a car, belonging...

Susie Madrak: We Used to Be America But those days are gone: Leaked emails from two former prosecutors claim the military...
Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: The Rule Of Law by hilzoy Via a diary at dKos, ABC has this story: [snipped quote] Why am I not surprised?

Prickly Protest
By Brit Hume / Fox News
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Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: The ACLU (search) plans to investigate whether random bag searches on buses and trains violate riders' civil liberties, but most Americans apparently see the measures as a proper safety precaution.

Barbara O'Brien: How to Fake News: Intermediate Level — Brit Hume of Faux Nooz on the Air America Allegations discussed here: "Funding...
Paul @Wizbang: But this week they told FoxNews: "We're committed to paying this money and the terms are being worked out... We are awaiting direction from the investigation into how to proceed."

Brian Maloney: More devastating for the left's case is this third statement, made by the company to Brit Hume of FOX News: An Air...
Captain Ed: Apparently that little detail didn't go unnoticed by Air America's other critics, and the netlet's spokesperson told Fox...

MarkInMexico: Main Page Brokaw blames government for Miller's jailing Editor and Publisher prints this incredible report about Tom...
TheAnchoress: Tom Brokaw begins his political career I have no doubt that within 3-4 years you will see Tom Brokaw on the national political stage, somwhere, as a candidate.

Joe @AmericaBlog: Prosecutors love to find those inconsistencies. E&P has a write up on the Time article, too.

Anti-Mubarak Protesters Clash With Police in Cairo
By Michael Slackman / NYT
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CAIRO, July 30 - Wielding bamboo batons and small leaded clubs, Egyptian security agents attacked and beat protesters on Saturday as they tried to rally in the central Tahrir Square here, chanting slogans calling for the end of Hosni Mubarak's 24-year-reign as president.

Frederick Maryland: And imagine that someone has asked you to write a headline for this news article: "Wielding bamboo batons and small...
Gary Farber: Fun, fun, fun for all! [snipped quote] Hey, this is a cultural tradition; stop trying to impose your culturally imperialistic notions on others!

Steve Soto: But that is the stability that George W. Bush will bequeath to the region, while our friends in Egypt and Pakistan perpetrate terror with Bush's blessing.

The $8.78 Million Maneuver
By Alex Wellen / NYT
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Pop quiz: What do the water bills at Stanford have in common with library expenditures at the University of Illinois? Answer: Everything, if you are a law school looking to increase your U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Mike Rappaport: The New York Times has an interesting piece on this, which starts with this amazing example: "Consider library costs at...
Todd Zywicki: US News: In case you missed it in the NY Times, eye-opening article on US News Law School Rankings methodology.

Ann Althouse: Here's an article by law school memoirist Alex Wellen about gaming the U.S. News & World Report ranking system: "As...

Exclusive: Secret Memo--Send to Be Tortured
Newsweek
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What's this? Aug. 8, 2005 issue - An FBI agent warned superiors in a memo three years ago that U.S. officials who discussed plans to ship terror suspects to foreign nations that practice torture could be prosecuted for conspiring to violate U.S. law, according to a copy of the memo obtained by NEWSWEEK.

Avedon Carol: It's not like the administration wasn't told that they were planning to violate US law: An FBI agent warned superiors in...
Gary Farber: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEMO; this from within the FBI.

Digby: I have long been skeptical of the CIA because of the CIA's history of bad acts around the world that were not sanctioned...
Jeralyn Merritt: FBI Agent Warned About Illegality of Rendition — A supervisory FBI agent assigned to Guantanamo wrote a memo to his...

Seething Unease Shaped British Bombers' Newfound Zeal
By Amy Waldman / NYT
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LEEDS, England, July 30 - Mohammad Sidique Khan was never on the corner, a detail friends offer as a compliment. In a neighborhood where many young South Asian men had lost their way, or foundered into drug dealing, Mr. Khan's peers admired his focus on family, work, working out, and Islam.

Don: From the top front-page story today: [The suicide bombers] were part of a larger clique of young British-raised ...
Fontana Labs: Youth of today — As a sort of follow-up to Ogged's post about rights and alienation, this is an interesting article...
Mediacrity: Article No. 1 appears on the front page and is by Amy Waldman, filling in on the terrorism-apologist beat for Hassan Fattah.

Cori Dauber: Aside from the fact that I have no godly idea what on earth "seething unease" is, this front page article in today's Times left me deeply uneasy.
Arthur Chrenkoff: "The New York Times" continues (registration required): [snipped quote] And in other ways, the transformation has had negative elements - and the rest is now history.

Iran to resume nuclear programme
BBC
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Iran has announced it will resume its controversial nuclear programme imminently in the face of a European Union appeal to wait for talks. Officials said they would inform UN nuclear inspectors of the move on Monday and then begin converting raw uranium at a plant in Isfahan.

Captain Ed: Iran announced that they will once again begin processing uranium ore, a step that likely will bring an end to the...

Roger L. Simon: Some British Understatement — You'd think that by now our British cousins would be having difficulty maintaining their...

World Not Set To Deal With Flu
By David Brown / WaPo
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Public health officials preparing to battle what they view as an inevitable influenza pandemic say the world lacks the medical weapons to fight the disease effectively, and will not have them anytime soon.

Jan Haugland: World not ready for 'inevitable' flu pandemic — WaPo's David Brown: Public health officials preparing to battle what...
Gary Farber: Your Amygdala stays alert and frightened for you, the home viewer! How many shopping days left until millions die?

Glenn Reynolds: DAVID BROWN IS SOUNDING THE BIRD FLU ALARM in the Washington Post.
DemFromCT @DailyKos: Considering how the Bush administration neglects public health issues [remember the flu vaccine fiasco last year?], this...

Mainstream media suppress Iraq optimism
By Michael Fumento / Townhall.com
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Editorial page associate editor Mark Yost at the Knight-Ridder newspaper the St. Paul Pioneer Press committed a major boo-boo. He penned a provocative column on media coverage of the Iraq war, observing that from what his contacts there told him - with apologies to Johnny Mercer - the mainstream media are accentuating the negative and ignoring the positive.

Jeff Goldstein: And see this related piece on the rhetorical biases of a holed-up press corp, compliments of Michael Fumento, via Faces...

Moderation in the Pursuit of Victory
By Nicholas Confessore / NYT
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"I AM pro-life," Bill Frist, the Senate Republican leader, announced last week, elucidating his decision to buck President Bush and support expanded federal financing for embryonic stem cell research. "I also believe," he added a bit later, "that embryonic stem cell research should be encouraged and supported."

Tom Maguire: In a related story, Nick Confessore, formerly of TAP, explains to Times readers the state of play for various Republican moderates aspiring to the Presidency.
Justin Gardner: This particular op-ed piece comes from the NY Times and concerns itself with conservatives across the spectruym like...

Jason Van Steenwyk: A guy who could be a critic of Iraq policy, but But this man, a commissioned officer, who is wrapping himself in the...
Digby: In another display of the GOP's irony and history impaired lameness, the Washington Post reports today why the national...
Susie Madrak: 'We Will Bury You' Via WashPo: Hackett told USA Today that Bush's taunting line, "Bring 'em on!" was "the most...

Hugh Hewitt: From this morning's Washington Post: Edwards sounded troubled by what he has seen of Roberts's record and said his...
Jerome Armstrong: Balz says they are getting clever: [snipped quote] For the prospects of any change at all, it's probably the only thing...

Switched Off in Basra
By Steven Vincent / NYT
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THE British call it being "switched on" - a state of high morale and readiness, similar to what Americans think of as "gung ho" attitude. During the 10 days I recently spent embedded with the British-led multinational force in this southern Iraqi city, I met many switched-on soldiers involved in what the British call "security sector reform."

Laura Rozen: So this oped in the NYT today about the British perhaps being too cool in Basra is interesting.
Cori Dauber: Today they run an Op-Ed piece from an independent writer who's been embedded with the British forces there, but who confirms the largest problem facing the city.

Steve Soto: Probably an Islamic republic with developing economic and military ties closely aligned with Iran, with a police force...

Schmidt can't recall Ach favor
By Howard Wilkinson / Cincinnati Enquirer
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 Ex-Sen. Cleland lauds fellow veteran Hackett Republican congressional candidate Jean Schmidt's media consultant said Friday she had no recollection of lobbying the governor's office on behalf of Cincinnati businessman Roger Ach's Internet lottery business when she was a state representative, as was reported Friday by the Toledo Blade.

Bob Brigham: The next day, the woman with the "file-card memory" was the focus of a Cincinnati Enquirer article headlined, Schmidt can't recall Ach favor.

Chris Bowers: To think that this came just one day after the following piece appeared in the Enquirer: "Republican congressional...

Never say never, but Connery ends career
Scotsman
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IT IS a decision that will horrify his legion of worldwide fans and leave grown women in tears. Scottish screen legend Sir Sean Connery has almost drawn the curtain on his long and glittering career by revealing it would take a Mafia-style "offer he couldn't refuse" to tempt him to make another film.

Orrin Judd: THE CELLBLOCK WEPT: Never say never, but Connery ends career (TOBY MCDONALD AND JEREMY WATSON, 7/31/05, The Scotsman)...

At State, Rice Takes Control of Diplomacy
WaPo
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Three weeks after taking office, Condoleezza Rice hosted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and their Japanese counterparts at the State Department. When Rumsfeld began to speak, Rice gently cut him off. The message was clear: I'll take the lead, Don.

Paul @PowerLine: When brickbats are better than bouquets — The Washington Post throws a bouquet at Secretary of State Rice.
TheAnchoress: What Condi's done in 6 monthsâ …is really pretty impressive.
Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post takes a look at Condi Rice's tenure so far as Secretary of State in a largely positive profile.

Boys of Summer
By David Brooks / NYT
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Every few weeks a newspaper or magazine will do an article on the professionalization of youth sports. It will be about these insane parents who spend their weekends driving or flying around the country for tournaments; who spend $60 an hour so their little...

Jesse Taylor: David Brooks writes a loving paean to the everyman red-state values of hyper-expensive competition.

Attaturk: Bobo Rose Lee — While writing about the simple virtues of the x-burbs, Bobo has done been playing stage mother.

Dr. Steven Taylor: Yeesh Via Reuters: Oregon anti-meth law would require prescriptions [snipped quote] More than that: it will just drive up generic health costs.

Terrorists way too cozy in United Kingdom
By Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times
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On Tuesday, the Times of London contained this intriguing tidbit about one of the thwarted suicide bombers of the July 21 tube attacks — Yasin Hassan Omar, a Somali ''asylum seeker'': ''Omar, who was last seen vaulting a barrier at Warren Street station, has been the registered occupant of the flat since 1999.

Betsy Newmark: Mark Steyn ponders the connection between Europe's welfare state and the rise of radical Islam in its midst.

Carter: Guantanamo Detentions Disgraceful
By Cassandra Vinograd / AP
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BIRMINGHAM, England - Former President Carter said Saturday the detention of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base was an embarrassment and had given extremists an excuse to attack the United States. Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust."

Jeff Goldstein: From aljazeera.COM: [snipped quote] Carter went on to say that Gitmo "has given impetus and excuses to potential...
Avedon Carol: Put that together with such a moment of real moral clarity as noting that the Guantanamo detentions are disgraceful and...
Captain Ed: Carter took an opportunity to castigate the American military for its treatment of terrorist detainees while traveling...

Joe Gandelman: Carter Blasts Guantanamo As "Disgraceful" And "Unjust" — Former President Jimmy Carter has blasted Guantanamo —...
Acidman: there he goes again — The more this guy opens his mouth, the lower my opinion becomes of him. BEJUS!
Gateway Pundit: Jimmy Carter Stoops Lower — The latest news of the embarassment that is Jimmy Carter comes via Polipundit, via Betsy's Page.

Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents
By Randall Stross / NYT
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"EXCITING," "uninteresting" and "not exciting" don't seem like technical terms. But they show up a lot in United States patent application No. 20,050,160,457, titled "Annotating Programs for Automatic Summary Generation." It seems to be about baseball.

Gary Farber: This call to do that, and rely instead on copyright and trademark protection, seems fairly persuasive to me (as have other such arguments that I've read).

The Man Who Made Kathie Lee Cry
By Lynne Duke / WaPo
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Really, it's inappropriate to be here, at a tony Capitol Hill restaurant for lunch. The guest, you see, doesn't eat lunch. Charles Kernaghan usually is too driven, too obsessed with his crusades to get bogged down with food (except a late-night dinner, his main meal of the day.)

Matthew Yglesias: From Misery to Poverty — Over at his other site, Josh links with approval to an profile of a man waging the war against child labor.
Josh Marshall: He's talking about the shoe-string budget his outfit runs on. The Post has an article about him.

Gary Farber: But Charles Kernaghan fights the good fight. Read The Rest Scale: 3.5 out of 5.

Why Truman Dropped the Bomb
By Richard B. Frank / Weekly Standard
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The sixtieth anniversary of Hiroshima seems to be shaping up as a subdued affair—though not for any lack of significance. A survey of news editors in 1999 ranked the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, first among the top one hundred stories of the twentieth century.

Ed Driscoll: Later in his post, Frank notes that this increasingly controversial war: "resulted in an occupation and a rebuilding of a foreign nation at unprecedented levels.
Scott @PowerLine: On tbe occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific, Frank retells the story with the...

Third terror cell on loose
Times of London
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A THIRD Islamist terror cell is planning multiple suicide bomb attacks against Tube trains and other "soft" targets in central London, security sources have revealed. Intelligence about a cell with access to explosives and plans to unleash a "third wave" of attacks was the trigger for last Thursday's unprecedented security exercise.

Hugh Hewitt: From the Times of London — From this morning's paper: A THIRD Islamist terror cell is planning multiple suicide bomb...
Arthur Chrenkoff: But "The Sunday Times" is reporting that a possible third terror cell might be still at large.
La Shawn Barber: Meanwhile, Islamofascists are preparing to kill more London commuters.

Andrew Cochran: And French Government Expelling Radical Clerics (updated) Sunday Times report: "A third Islamist terror cell is planning...
Marc @USSNeverdock: The Times (UK) reports last weeks heightened police presence at London train stations wasn't just a precaution, the...

At Law School, Unstrict Scrutiny
By John O. Mcginnis / Opinion Journal
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Dan Subotnik once went to his dean and asked to teach a course on race and the law, a subject to which he had devoted a great deal of his own scholarly effort. Teaching a course about something you know is a time-honored method of refining your ideas and, not least, of educating the young.

Michael DeBow: A recent book on race and gender theory in law schools, "Toxic Diversity," by Touro law professor Dan Subotnik, is reviewed by John McGinnis for OpinionJournal.

Ed Driscoll: "Toxic Diversity" — The Wall Street Journal has an interesting review of a new book on diversity gone askew in law...

Man Admits Role in Failed London Attack
AP
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ROME - A suspect in the failed London transit bombings admitted Saturday to a role in the attack but said it was only intended to be an attention-grabbing strike, not a deadly one, a legal expert familiar with the investigation said.

Damian Penny: Update: Osman Hussain, arrested in Italy for his involvement with the failed attacks of July 21, says the bombs were just meant to scare people, not to kill anyone.
Andrew Cochran: Late today, the AP reported a suspected bomber's confession: Osman Hussain "admitted Saturday to a role in the attack...
Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - How Did Hussain Escape — That's the biq question surrounding Osman Hussain, one of the Muslim terrorists who attacked London.

Jayson @PoliPundit: And it's gone from being an example of media self-parody to being one of those surreal examples of agenda journalism and moral relativism in action.
Roger L. Simon: Homicidal Maniac Claims to Be Psychic — No, I have not gotten a job writing headlines for the Enquirer, but that is all...
Scott Sala: I thought after Abu Ghraib we all agreed to stop sending hot women to deal with captured terrorists.

Another Face of Terror
By Nicholas D. Kristof / NYT
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Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, is supposed to be our valued ally in the war on terrorism. But terror takes many forms, not all of them hijacked airplanes or bombed subways.

Avedon Carol: Meanwhile, I almost feel sorry for Nicholas Kristof, who is so well-meaning, and it's probably going to hurt him...
Armando @DailyKos: Musharraf's Pakistan apparently: [snipped quote] The cynical Bush claim to be working for "freedom" is an offensive and detestable lie.

Susie Madrak: It seems we don't have a problem with rape when it's one of our allies, like our good friends in Pakistan: For the...

Unending Graft Is Threatening Latin America
NYT
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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 29 - As he campaigned for the presidency in 2002, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva boldly pledged to clean up the sordid politics of Brazil. His, he vowed, would be an ethical, honest and moral government the likes of which Brazil had never seen.

Randy Paul: Larry Rohter has a generally good article on corruption in Latin America, although I would translate the sign in the photo as "Enough Already of corruption and impunity!"
Dr. Steven Taylor: For example (Unending Graft Is Threatening Latin America): "A congressional inquiry has heard testimony that the...
Rickheller @Centerfield: One reason is corruption [snipped quote] I point this out with reference to events in the Middle East, and the notion that democracy is a solution to the problems faced there.

Jan Haugland: Latin America's endless corruption problem — With Brazil's 'Mr Clean' Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also deeply...
Ezra Klein: It's Not Me, It's You — Lula, whose government is now so rife with corruption that the populist is facing impeachment, has apparently decided on a new public relations strategy.
Matthew Yglesias: Your Morning Irony — Just a few New York Times headlines that popped out at me this morning: Senate Approves Bill...

Internet's Best Friend (Let Me Count the Ways)
By Sarah Boxer / NYT
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On the Web you'll find the Infinite Cat Project but no Infinite Dog. My Cat Hates You is big on the Web, but there is no site named My Dog Hates You. (Dogs Hate Bush exists, but then so does Cats Hate Bush.) As any good Web hound can tell you, Rathergood.com is filled with crazy crooning cats.

Amanda Marcotte: The truth about cat-blogging and dogs — The NY Times has tackled the incredibly important subject of cat-blogging.
Dr. Steven Taylor: Inspired by this NYT piece, Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon hits the nail on the head as to why catblogging is more popular than dogblogging: [snipped quote] This is quite true.

Don: CATS AND DOGS HATE BUSH ...according to the New York Times.
Gary Farber: CATS AND DOGS LIVING TOGETHER on the interwub. Call it Saturday cat-and-dog blogging.

'The Truth About Hillary': Many a Dubious Revelation
By Joe Queenan / NYT
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TEN years ago, Kevin Costner's career took a turn for the worse when he made a hugely expensive film called ''Waterworld.'' Since then, the film has become synonymous with megalomania, hubris and all the other fancy words that journalists like to use when things fall apart and the center will not hold.

Susie Madrak: Spinning Platters Joe Queenan does a very, very funny review of Ed Klein's Hillary-bashing book.
Ezra Klein: The Truth About The Truth About Hillary — From Joe Queenan's review of The Truth About Hillary: [snipped quote] Which isn't to say there's nothing of note in there.

Ann Althouse: Don't miss the hilarious Joe Queenan review of Edward Klein's book "The Truth About Hillary."
Scott @PowerLine: The truth about Hillary Clinton, sort of — Humorist Joe Queenan has given Edward Klein's new book on Hillary Clinton a...

All Four Bombing Suspects In Custody
By Glenn Frankel / WaPo
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LONDON, July 29 — Police commandos firing tear gas and stun grenades on Friday seized two suspected bombers in London, and authorities in Rome arrested a third, in a dramatic conclusion to the hunt for the four men wanted in last week's failed attacks on London's transit system.

Norbizness: I'll just bet that the British have not learned our lesson, and are probably going to actually charge and criminally...
MarkInMexico: In The Washington Post's report of the roundup and arrest of the 3 7/21 bomberette suspects still in Britain yesterday, it quotes one of the suspects shouting, "I have rights!

Cori Dauber: Well, according to this morning's Post, not a damn thing, apparently.
Jason Van Steenwyk: TV news networks give free intelligence to Al Qaeda in London ...apparently, as the British police were surrounding the...

Max Boot: China's challenge
Dallas Morning News
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Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu of the Chinese People's Liberation Army caused quite a stir last week when he threatened to nuke "hundreds" of American cities if the United States dared to interfere with a Chinese attempt to conquer Taiwan.

Avedon Carol: Let's see what's happening over at Memeorandum... There's nothing like another Max Boot column to inspire beauty from the few real libertarians out there.
Jim Henley: Comments () » The Paranoid Creed If you had to boil it down, I'd say that "Once you know what to look for, the pieces fall into place with disturbing ease." would do nicely.

Arthur Silber: ENDLESS WAR ALONG WITH THE NEOCONS, OR LIFE AT THE MOVIES — Max Boot, a real man's man (look at that strong jaw!) and...

Andrew Cochran: They should take lessons from Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, who has had enough of radical Islamists...
Roger L. Simon: According to the Telegraph, the French are suddenly getting tougher on terror than the British: The gulf between British...
Jason Van Steenwyk: France expelling radical imams — Now they're waking up and smelling the shawarma.

Marc @USSNeverdock: France ejects 12 Islamic 'preachers of hate' [snipped quote] And in Pakistan.
MarkInMexico: The Telegraph is reporting this morning that France will toss 12 "preachers of hate" out of the country.
McQ: France Gets Tough — Apparently France has seen and heard enough: [snipped quote] Interesting.

U.S. Evicted From Air Base In Uzbekistan
WaPo
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Permalink
Uzbekistan formally evicted the United States yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to Afghanistan since shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pentagon and State Department officials said yesterday.

Tacitus: Out of Uzbekistan. The United States is being evicted from the K2 airbase in Uzbekistan.
Gene @HarrysPlace: Monitoring Bush: doing the right thing on Uzbekistan — Given the choice between a) Easing the pressure on the Uzbek...
Captain Ed: Unfortunately, that base will no longer remain in our control, as the Uzbeks have delivered an eviction notice to the...

Gateway Pundit: (AFP) The Uzbek Government formally evicted the US from the Karshi-Khanabad airbase it has been using since shortly after 9/11,yesterday.
Smash: U.S. Military Evicted from Uzbekistan THE DARK CLOUD: [snipped quote] THE SILVER LINING: We don't need allies like Uzbek...
Cernig: Uzbekistan formally evicted the United States yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and...

British Bombers' Rage Formed in a Caldron of Discontent
By Amy Waldman / NYT
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Permalink
LEEDS, England, July 30 - Mohammad Sidique Khan was never on the corner, a detail friends offer as a compliment. In a neighborhood where many young South Asian men had lost their way, or foundered into drug dealing, Mr. Khan's peers admired his focus on family, work, working out, and Islam.

Jeff Jarvis: Meanwhile, on this side of the ocean, The Times tries to understand more of the terrorists: Mr. Khan, Mr. Tanweer and...

Andrew Cochran: Mchael Cutler asked me to post the following: I came across this article that is in today's New York Times and thought you would find it to be of interest.

Uzbeks Order U.S. From Base In Refugee Rift
NYT
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Permalink
WASHINGTON, July 30 - Uzbekistan formally ordered the United States to leave an air base that has been a hub for operations in Afghanistan in protest over a predawn United Nations operation on Friday to spirit out refugees who had fled an uprising in Uzbekistan in May, senior State Department officials said Saturday.

Laura Rozen: I don't know, getting kicked out of the Uzbekistan air base seems like it could be a wonderful opportunity for the US to get some clarity on the political situation there.

Gary Farber: Now the situation has melted down. That might be for the best, where "the best" means "the least worst possibility."

US announces German base closures
BBC
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Permalink
US troops will pull out of 11 bases in southern Germany in 2007 as part of a shake-up of US forces around the world. The bases, mainly in Bavaria, are home to the 1st Infantry Division which will return to the US in 2006, the defence department said in a statement.

Jan Haugland: No wonder the US soldiers are being moved out.
Dr. Steven Taylor: And a reversal from just over a week ago Meanwhile, via the BBC: US announces German base closures: "The base closures...

James Joyner: US announces German base closures (BBC) [snipped quote] An end of an era. U.S. troops have been in Germany for over 60 years.
Orrin Judd: END THE OCCUPATION NOW: US announces German base closures (BBC, 7/30/05) [snipped quote] At this rate WWII will be over soon.

On Capitol Hill, A Flurry of GOP Victories
WaPo
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After years of partisan impasses and legislative failures, Congress in a matter of hours yesterday passed or advanced three far-reaching bills that will allocate billions of dollars and set new policies for guns, roads and energy.

Captain Ed: Less than two months after the Washington Post wrote off the second Bush term as moribund and Bush himself as a lame...
Alexander K. McClure: Lame Duck? Even his most obsessive critics have to admit that President Bush has had his share of successes this year.
McQ: Porking up the so-called 'budget' — Not yet a lame duck and, unsurpriningly, still not conservative on spending

Michael @AmericaBlog: This Lame Duck Can Still Peck Away — Bush is supposed to be a lame duck...but he's sure accomplishing a lot.
Steve Soto: Post Says Bolton Will Get Recess Appointment — At the same time that the Washington Post is giving an ass-kissing to...

Joe Gandelman: Reuters notes: "The United States has regarded its bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as vital for operations in Afghanistan.

John @AmericaBlog: Bush's Uzbek dictator friend evicts US from airbase — Yeah, sucking up to those dictators who oppress their people has been a really great strategy, hasn't it?

Debunking the Concept of 'Race'
NYT
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Permalink
Black Americans who explore their family histories typically hit a dead end in the early 19th century, when black Americans who were slaves were not listed in the census by name.

Armando @DailyKos: But, as the NYTimes Ed Board points out, race is not an easily described concept genetically: [snipped quote] What amazes...

Gary Farber: I tend to bang on about this, now and again. [snipped quote] People come in genetic clusters, not in "races."

Terrorisim fatwa denounced as 'bogus'
By Khalid Hasan / Pakistan Daily Times
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WASHINGTON: The fatwa against terrorism issued here on Thursday by the Fiqh Council of North America has been denounced as "bogus." According to Steven A Emerson, executive director of the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism, the fatwa is...

MarkInMexico: According to Pakistan's Daily Times, folks are beginning to read behind the lines and the fine print of the...

Ruling Sets Off Tug of War Over Private Property
By Timothy Egan / NYT
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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - More than a month after the Supreme Court ruled that governments could take one person's property and give it to another in the name of public interest, the decision has set off a storm of legislative action and protest, as states have moved to protect homes and businesses from the expanded reach of eminent domain.

Charles Paul Freund: On Beyond Kelo — Saturday's NYT offers a round-up of post-Kelo activity, including some jurisdictions that are moving...

Greg Piper: Most recently, the court's eminent-domain decision in Kelo has brought together the polarized sides to quickly fight the...

John @PowerLine: UPDATE: The Washington Times has an interesting account of the London arrest that is pictured above.

Our will to win
Guardian
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It is not difficult to depict events of the kind that London has suffered during July 2005 as evidence of a society that is close to the edge. The carnage from the bombs on the buses and tubes has been terrible enough, but these attacks are the epicentres from which multiple other dangers and tensions ripple out across the city and the country.

Harry @HarrysPlace: Then today's (Saturday) leader looked on the mood in the country and the kind of collective response needed to defeat the enemy.

Jan Haugland: Guardian: Britain will not give in to terrorists — A rather surprising Guardian leader stands firm against terrorism.

Andrew Stuttaford: PATRIOT BLUES — The Patriot Act is in the process of being renewed at the moment.
Jeralyn Merritt: The New York Times reports: "The bill approved Friday by the Senate makes permanent 14 of the 16 antiterrorism...

Greg Piper: John Roberts to Supreme Court: Die or Leave — After reading some of John Roberts' memos from the White House counsel's...

Jeralyn Merritt: Judge John Roberts: No Friend of the Accused — Among the documents released from Judge John Roberts' tenure as...

George W. Lobbying
By Robert Novak / Townhall.com
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WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, usually early to bed, was on the phone past 10 p.m. Wednesday talking reluctant Republican House members into voting for CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement). GOP congressional leaders credit President Bush with doing more personally to pass this measure than any other proposal.